I was contacted earlier in the week by a friend who works at Garmin. They had used several of their Virb cameras at the pumpkin drop last weekend and had some footage of the Stinson. They were checking to make sure it was OK to use it. I said sure!
Here is the link to their final product. The Stinson is the 3rd airplane dropping a pumpkin and it hits right in front of the target....about 40 seconds in. Interesting editing....it looks like all the pumpkins are coming out of a Champ, though the ground view is of several different airplanes. Makes a good story!
Pumpkin Drop at Stearman
Friday, October 30, 2015
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Scott tail wheel installed
I have had a Maule tail wheel on the airplane since early in the restoration. I have received a few comments I should pitch it in the river and get a Scott tail wheel. Sunday evening I noticed the tail wheel tire looked low on air. When I inflated it, you could hear the air leaking out near the base of the valve stem. After working with Wade, we found the wheel and tube is so old, it is no longer made....though we could find a tube that might work.
Wade graciously offered to let me use his Scott tail wheel until we found a replacement. So, last night I mounted the tail wheel to the airplane and tonight Wade came by and helped get the springs connected. Fortunately, I had all of the springs and hardware from a previous mis-purchase. Sometimes it pays to be lucky.
After installation, Wade and I went out for a taxi test....which also included a few minutes in the air. It was a really smooth evening with the sun having just set. This was Wade's first Stinson experience......many more to come! Wade has most of the basic pieces for a second Scott tail wheel, so we are going to purchase the remaining items needed and then I will have a Scott tail wheel of my own.
The airplane handled nicely with no shimmy on roll out. It also sits a little taller, making it easier to see where you are going. All in all, a great improvement.....as Bruce said it would be!
Wade graciously offered to let me use his Scott tail wheel until we found a replacement. So, last night I mounted the tail wheel to the airplane and tonight Wade came by and helped get the springs connected. Fortunately, I had all of the springs and hardware from a previous mis-purchase. Sometimes it pays to be lucky.
After installation, Wade and I went out for a taxi test....which also included a few minutes in the air. It was a really smooth evening with the sun having just set. This was Wade's first Stinson experience......many more to come! Wade has most of the basic pieces for a second Scott tail wheel, so we are going to purchase the remaining items needed and then I will have a Scott tail wheel of my own.
The airplane handled nicely with no shimmy on roll out. It also sits a little taller, making it easier to see where you are going. All in all, a great improvement.....as Bruce said it would be!
Airplane with old tire off,
but Maule assembly still on
Scott tail wheel installed and tested
Sunday, October 25, 2015
Pumpkin Drop
Yesterday was the annual pumpkin drop at Stearman. I participated for the first time. My bombardier was a young lady named Leslie. Her mom and Debbie used to work together. Nathan and his friend Dawson also gave it a try. They got 4th and we got 5th. Not bad! There were 18 total entrants. The restaurant sponsored this and provided really big pumpkins....too big to go out the window. So, we had to force the door open and let it go. It was a lot of fun!
Stinson on bombing run
Dawson and Nathan in a rented 172.
Note the door is open still.
Nathan and Dawson afterwards
Leslie and Randy
Monday, October 12, 2015
Encouraging the next generation
After work today I took Gene, the guy who did the trim carpentry at our house, and his son Jacob for a ride. Jacob is a senior in high school and plans to go into Mechanical Engineering. He also flies radio controlled airplanes. I told him to look me up in 4 years about a job! Jacob got some stick time and did a nice job. He said it was a lot different from flying R/C!
Saturday, October 10, 2015
Early morning flight
I took my friend Craig and his granddaughters Isla and Addison for a ride first thing today. It was nice and smooth as hoped. We had breakfast at Stearman Cafe following. I can see the fun I will have in the future when Emma and Amelia are a few years older!
Debbie and I flew to a small airport north of Wichita (Eagle Field) for the monthly MAAG meeting around mid-day. They had pizza! See the MAAG blog for details.
MAAG Blog Site
After that I came home and changed the oil in the Stinson and then fueled it up. Ready for the next adventure!
Debbie and I flew to a small airport north of Wichita (Eagle Field) for the monthly MAAG meeting around mid-day. They had pizza! See the MAAG blog for details.
MAAG Blog Site
After that I came home and changed the oil in the Stinson and then fueled it up. Ready for the next adventure!
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Award Winner
I heard a rumor yesterday that the Stinson had won an award at Saturday's EAA Chapter 88 Fly-In. We did not go to the awards banquet that evening since we had other obligations. Tonight, our neighbor Spence came by and dropped things off. It ends up we won two items. First is the "Lady's Choice" award. This is where the women get to vote for their favorite airplane. I heard a few comments from guys who had seen our airplane that their wives really liked the leather interior.....so maybe that had an influence.
We also won the "Design Innovation" award. This is awarded based on a panel of judges that reviewed each airplane. I can only guess at what they considered innovative. I suspect since we did the engine change, we could not win in the best classic category, so they looked for some other category to put us in. That was nice of them! Of course, I could be totally wrong on that. Maybe they also liked the interior:)
We also won the "Design Innovation" award. This is awarded based on a panel of judges that reviewed each airplane. I can only guess at what they considered innovative. I suspect since we did the engine change, we could not win in the best classic category, so they looked for some other category to put us in. That was nice of them! Of course, I could be totally wrong on that. Maybe they also liked the interior:)
The awards are aviation themed steins. The little dog
tags around the handles are engraved with the type
of award and a few other facts. Pretty cool!
Sunday, October 4, 2015
You tube video
I found a you tube video of us taking off Thursday morning from Hays, Kansas as part of the Kansas Air Tour. You can find it on You Tube by searching for "Fly Kansas Air Tour departure of a Cessna" and it is 8:35 long. Hey.....that's no Cessna! It's a Stinson! We are the first minute.
I figured out how to insert a link....so here you go:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6Dvwk7Rkuc
I figured out how to insert a link....so here you go:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6Dvwk7Rkuc
EAA Chapter 88 Fly-In
We flew to Newton, Kansas yesterday for their annual EAA fly-in. It is about a 15 minute trip and there was a pancake breakfast waiting for us! We saw a lot of friends and airplanes. We left early to beat some rain....which never materialized. We got a lot of nice comments on the Stinson.
Friday, October 2, 2015
Fly Kansas Air Tour
We just finished a 4 day odyssey around Kansas, flying to 8 different small towns to show school kids airplanes and talk about careers in aviation. There were 20 to 30 airplanes in the tour at different points, depending on how much time people had off. We flew the whole event......beats working!
We missed 2 towns due to low ceilings on the second day. The event started Tuesday in Wellington which included the mayor and local high school band to kick things off. We talked to kids for awhile and then left for Pratt. There we talked with some community college students and saw a small museum dedicated to the B-29 training that was conducted there in WWII. After pizza it was on to Dodge City for the biggest reception of the event, several hundred school kids from various grades. After that we were off to Liberal to finish the day of flying.
At Liberal we got to tour the Liberal Air Museum, which is really a great airplane museum if you have not seen it. This was my first time and another item to cross off the bucket list. Some lasagna at the museum and off to the hotel we went. The meals were all picked up by various sponsors. The Kansas Department of Transportation Aviation Division were the event organizers. We just paid for fuel and lodging, and got discounts on both.
The next morning there were low ceilings and visibility. Things improved throughout the morning and we launched in early afternoon. By that point it was too late to stop in Garden City and Colby, so we flew directly to Hays. Ceilings were still low initially, but got better the further we went. At Hays we got a tour of RANS Aircraft. They produce home built and light sport airplanes. A very interesting tour and one I had wanted to go on for a long time. For dinner we were bused downtown to a bar & grill for a great meal and lots of hangar flying, then off to the motels.
Thursday morning we flew to Concordia and were greeted by a large group of very excited 4th graders. We spent the morning showing them airplanes and talking with them, had lunch with them, and then flew to Junction City. The weather was great there, though not many kids showed up. I talked with several high school juniors and their shop teacher. Then on to Emporia.
Emporia included some fun such as a flower bombing contest. Debbie and I tried but did not place. We had Bar-B-Q at a local golf course and then back to the hotel. This morning Debbie and I flew home and got here in time to have breakfast at Stearman Cafe.
All in all, 8.2 hours of flying. It was fun to get away a few days, do some flying, meet fellow pilots, see the museums and RANS factory, and talk with a lot of school kids. Maybe a few of them will go into aviation!
We missed 2 towns due to low ceilings on the second day. The event started Tuesday in Wellington which included the mayor and local high school band to kick things off. We talked to kids for awhile and then left for Pratt. There we talked with some community college students and saw a small museum dedicated to the B-29 training that was conducted there in WWII. After pizza it was on to Dodge City for the biggest reception of the event, several hundred school kids from various grades. After that we were off to Liberal to finish the day of flying.
At Liberal we got to tour the Liberal Air Museum, which is really a great airplane museum if you have not seen it. This was my first time and another item to cross off the bucket list. Some lasagna at the museum and off to the hotel we went. The meals were all picked up by various sponsors. The Kansas Department of Transportation Aviation Division were the event organizers. We just paid for fuel and lodging, and got discounts on both.
The next morning there were low ceilings and visibility. Things improved throughout the morning and we launched in early afternoon. By that point it was too late to stop in Garden City and Colby, so we flew directly to Hays. Ceilings were still low initially, but got better the further we went. At Hays we got a tour of RANS Aircraft. They produce home built and light sport airplanes. A very interesting tour and one I had wanted to go on for a long time. For dinner we were bused downtown to a bar & grill for a great meal and lots of hangar flying, then off to the motels.
Thursday morning we flew to Concordia and were greeted by a large group of very excited 4th graders. We spent the morning showing them airplanes and talking with them, had lunch with them, and then flew to Junction City. The weather was great there, though not many kids showed up. I talked with several high school juniors and their shop teacher. Then on to Emporia.
Emporia included some fun such as a flower bombing contest. Debbie and I tried but did not place. We had Bar-B-Q at a local golf course and then back to the hotel. This morning Debbie and I flew home and got here in time to have breakfast at Stearman Cafe.
All in all, 8.2 hours of flying. It was fun to get away a few days, do some flying, meet fellow pilots, see the museums and RANS factory, and talk with a lot of school kids. Maybe a few of them will go into aviation!
Debbie went with me and shared the fun. This
is at the start in Wellington.
This is Paul and his Air Bike. He only
flew the first leg since his plane is so slow.
Passing Paul enroute to Pratt
Kids at Dodge City. We eventually
got the heck out of Dodge!
Beech Staggerwing at Liberal Air Museum
Randy Schlitter, founder and owner of RANS Aircraft
The kid in the foreground and his grandfather
came from Iowa to fly the Kansas Air Tour. The lady
is Tiffany Brown, the Director of K-DOT's Aviation Division.
A Rans airplane ready for delivery
Debbie contemplating which options we should include
On the was to Concordia, we passed an Interstate
which was part of our group
We also passed a PT-26 owned by Earl Long
......and a Cessna 150.
Some of the 4th graders at Concordia
Blue skies returned by Junction City
Back home today. It was in the upper
40's this morning, so thought I
would wear my Nomex flight suit for the first time.
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